Judge Rejects Trump Campaign Suit Over Philly Mail-in Voting Offices

The judge ruled that Pennsylvania law does not allow campaign representatives to observe in any election offices.

A judge on Friday rejected a bid by President Donald Trump’s campaign to force Philadelphia to allow campaign representatives to monitor people registering to vote or filling out mail-in ballots in election offices in a city repeatedly attacked by Trump as untrustworthy.

Judge Gary Glazer wrote in his 14-page opinion that Pennsylvania law does not allow such representatives to observe in election offices, a stance held by election lawyers, city officials and the state’s top elections official.

The lawsuit comes amid Trump claiming that he can only lose the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania if Democrats cheat and, as he did in 2016′s campaign, and suggesting that the Democratic bastion of Philadelphia needs to be watched closely for election fraud.

The Trump campaign filed the lawsuit last week, two days after Philadelphia opened seven satellite election offices, new creations deemed to be legal under state law by the state Supreme Court. There, people can register to vote, apply for a mail-in ballot, fill it out and turn it in.

Trump campaign employees promptly showed up at the offices, insisting they be allowed to go in and observe the activity inside. City election officials prevented them.

Trump referred to that confrontation in last week’s debate with Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, saying “bad things happen in Philadelphia.”